Long Beach Man Arrested for Sexually Assaulting a Dog

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Mitchell Marsicano, 55, of Long Beach, was arrested early this morning by Long Beach Police and charged with one count of Burglary in the Second Degree (a Class C felony), one count of Sexual Misconduct (A Class A Misdemeanor); and one count of Attempted Sexual Misconduct (A Class B Misdemeanor) He faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted of the burglary charge and one year in jail for the misdemeanor charges. He was arraigned in Long Beach City Court where bail was set at $20,000 bond/$10,000 cash. The case is still under

Only days after a Connecticut man was charged with sexually assaulting a horse, a Long Island man has been charged with having sex with a dog -- and it wasn't even his.

Nassau County prosecutors charged Mitchell Marsicano, 55, with sexual misconduct, attempted sexual misconduct and burglary after he allegedly forced his way into his tenants’ apartment and allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with a two-year-old, male, Shiba Inu dog named Snowball.

Marsicano, of Long Beach, was arrested early this morning by Long Beach Police. He faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted of the felony burglary charge and one year in jail for the misdemeanor sexual misconduct charges, officials said.

Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that on at least two occasions between October 12 and October 21, Marsicano engaged in sexual misconduct with the dog in the upstairs apartment of the house he owned.

Marsicano, who lived in the basement of his home and rented out other floors to two tenants, had previously turned over the care of the dog to his tenants, Rice said. The tenants contacted the DA’s Animal Cruelty Unit after witnessing Marsicano sexually abuse the dog in their apartment yesterday morning at approximately 2 a.m. after he entered the apartment without permission.

The 23-pound dog was removed from the home earlier this morning and underwent a veterinary exam at the Nassau Animal Emergency Group in Westbury, officials said.

Veterinarians there said the dog showed injuries to its legs, consistent with being roughly restrained; other injuries and conditions consistent with trauma; and was uncharacteristically skittish to being touched on its hindquarters. Snowball is currently being cared for at the Freeport Animal Shelter.

He was arraigned in Long Beach City Court where bail was set at $20,000 bond/$10,000 cash. The case is still under investigation by the District Attorney’s Animal Cruelty Unit and additional charges could be added. Marsicano is due back in Nassau County court on October 27.

“It’s unimaginable to think that anyone could carry out such unspeakable acts of cruelty and violence on a defenseless animal,” said District Attorney Rice. “Thanks to the actions of witnesses, the Long Beach Police Department and the members of my office’s Animal Cruelty Unit this dog is now safe and protected from any further abuse.”